HHF Architects

History

The architectural practice, established in Basel by Tilo Herlach, Simon Hartmann and Simon Frommenwiler in 2003, has built projects in Switzerland, China, Germany, France, Mexico and the USA. Their projects encompass a broad spectrum, including new buildings like the "Labels 2" fashion center in Berlin, interior design, planning tasks like the master plans for the public spaces of the Praille-Acacias-Vernets site in Geneva and La Défense in Paris and the development plan for Unterfeld in Zug, Switzerland, as well as objects in the public realm like "Baby Dragon" in China or the "Espinazo del Diablo" viewing platform on the "Ruta del Peregrino" in the Mexican state of Jalisco. HHF Architects intentionally seek close and substantive collaboration with artists and other architects. It is within this context that group projects receiving worldwide attention have emerged, such as the Mexican pilgrimage route "Ruta del Peregrino" and the fruitful collaboration with the Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei, which has been ongoing since 2005.

Shortly after of the office was established, the first works were already being shown at national and international architecture exhibitions. In 2005 HHF were invited to design a contribution to the "Jinhua Architecture and Arts Park" for the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture. An invitation followed in 2007 to officially represent Switzerland at the 7th International Architecture Biennale in São Paulo. In 2011 the works created in collaboration with Ai Weiwei were shown as part of the exhibition Ai Weiwei – Art / Architecture at Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria. The German Architecture Museum (DAM) in Frankfurt am Main showed "Labels 2" in 2012 as part of the exhibition The 23 Best Buildings. With their invitation to the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2012, the firm's busy exhibition activities have reached a culmination for the present.

Alongside numerous other national and international distinctions, HHF was named to the "Design Vanguard 2010" by Architectural Record. In 2012 HHF were distinguished with an important "Wallpaper Design Award", for which they had also been nominated in 2010.

In addition to building, architectural education is of utmost importance to the firm's principals. Simon Frommenwiler was an assistant to Harry Gugger at the EPF in Lausanne and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the ENSA Strasbourg since 2011. Simon Hartmann was senior assistant at the ETH Studio Basel and has been teaching as professor of design at the HTA Fribourg since 2009. HHF Architects were visiting professors at the University of Innsbruck and have been guest lecturers at the UIA in Mexico City and at MIT in Cambridge, MA, as well as guest critics at various universities.

Profile

• Established 2003
• Legal form: GmbH
• Partners: Tilo Herlach, Simon Hartmann, Simon Frommenwiler
• Associates: Cella Hubel, David Gregori y Ribes, Benjamin Krüger
• Employees: 30–35 (as of August 2012)
• The team consists of architects, urban designers, designers and drafters

Buildings and projects (selected)

• 2013 – Master plan for all public spaces of La Défense, Paris, France, in collaboration with AWP, Paris
• 2012 – Housing and Restaurant, Lichtstrasse 9, Basel, Switzerland
• 2011 – Master plan for the public spaces and urban mobility, Praille-Acacias-Vernets, Geneva, Switzerland
• 2011 – House D, Nuglar, Switzerland
• 2011 – Guesthouse, Ancram, New York, USA, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei
• 2011 – Apartment Quai de Valmy, Paris, France, in collaboration with AWP, Paris
• 2010 – Lookout Point on the Ruta del Peregrino, Mexico
• 2010 – Labels 2 Fashion Center, Berlin, Germany
• 2009 – Sonvida residential development, Bottmingen, Switzerland, with ARchos Architektur
• 2009 – Confiserie Bachmann, Basel, Switzerland
• 2008 – Artfarm, gallery and art storage for Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei
• 2008 – Tsai Residence, New York, USA, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei
• 2008 – Overall urban concept for Saarbrücken, Germany, in collaboration with Hans Wirz, Jacques Degermann, and Joel Bertrand
• 2008 – Grand Traiano Art Complex, Grottaferrata, Province of Rome, Italy, in collaboration with Johnston Marklee Architects
• 2008 – Ordos 100, HHF House, Inner Mongolia, China
• 2008 – Kirschgarten Mensa, cafeteria in Kirschgarten secondary school, Basel, Switzerland
• 2007 – Dune House, Inner Mongolia, China
• 2005 – Treehouse, Guesthouse for the Waterville Golf Resort, Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei (shell construction)
• 2005 – Baby Dragon – Pavilion for children, Jinhua Architecture Park, China
• 2003 – Master plan for Sonvida residential development, Bottmingen, Switzerland, in collaboration with ARchos Architektur

Distinctions (selected)

• 2014 – Inclusion in the collection of the Architecture Museum of Technische Universität München, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
• 2014 – Nomination for the best single family house ("Das beste Einfamilienhaus" '14) by the Swiss magazine "Das ideale Heim"
• 2013 – Award for excellent architecture from Kanton Basel-Landschaft, Kanton Basel-Stadt, Basel, Switzerland
• 2013 – Award for the best new building from the Basel Heritage Protection, Basel, Switzerland
• 2013 – Architekturpreis Berlin, Germany
• 2013 – American Architecture Award 2013
• 2013 – 1. Prize, buildings of the year 2013 award ("Häuser des Jahres 2013") by the German Architecture Museum and Callwey Verlag
• 2013 – Best Architects 14
• 2012 – WAN 21 for 21 Award
• 2012 – AIT Award
• 2012 – Wallpaper Design Award
• 2012 – Nomination for Velux Daylight Award
• 2011 – Inclusion in the collection Centre Georges Pompidou
• 2010 – Design Vanguard Award 2010 (Chernikov Prize)
• 2010 – Swiss Art Awards
• 2010 – Best Architects 11 award
• 2010 – Wallpaper Design Award nominee
• 2010 – Contractworld Award
• 2009 – American Architecture Award 2009, New York
• 2009 – Best Architects 10 gold award
• 2008 – Europe 40 under 40 award, European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies
• 2008 – Award for Best Architects 09 from the magazine Hochparterre, Swiss television and the Museum für Gestaltung (Museum for Design), Zurich
• 2008 – Gold Award for excellent architecture from Kanton Basel-Landschaft, Kanton Basel-Stadt, Basel, Switzerland
• 2008 – Best Architects 09 award

Exhibitions (selected)

• 2014 – Architecture Week Prague, Czech Republic
• 2014 – HHF—Unfinished, Architekturgalerie München, Munich, Germany
• 2014 – Greek Tourism is not in Crisis, Greek Pavilion, Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
• 2014 – CANactions 2014, Kiew, Ukraine
• 2014 – Show and Tell – Architekturgeschichte(n) aus der Sammlung, Pinakothek der Moderne, Architecture Museum of Technische Universität München
• 2013 – Cut'n'Paste: From Architectural Assemblage to Collage City, MOMA, New York, USA
• 2013 – Lookout Architecture with a View, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, Switzerland
• 2013 – Buildings of the Year 2013, German Architecture Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 2013 – Architekturpreis Berlin 2013, Labels 2, Kutscherhaus, Berlin, Germany
• 2013 – 14. Internationale Architektur Biennale Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2013 – La Défense 2020, exhibition, Cœur Défense, Parvis de La Défense, Paris, France
• 2013 – Monografische Ausstellung, presentation Unterfeld, Baar, Switzerland
• 2013 – Daueraustellung, Pavillon de l'Arsenal, Paris, France
• 2013 – Paris la nuit, Pavillon de l'Arsenal, Paris, France
• 2013 – Building Images, Photography Focusing on Swiss Architecture, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, Switzerland
• 2013 – White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes, Yale School of Architecture, New Haven, USA
• 2012 – GLOBAL Design NYU London, The Building Centre, London, UK
• 2012 – White Cube, Green Maze: New Art Landscapes, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA
• 2012 – Invitation to the 13th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, Italy
• 2012 – WAN 21 for 21 awards exhibition, London, UK
• 2012 – Ai Weiwei's Five Houses, AIA Architecture Center Houston, USA
• 2012 – Die 23 besten Bauten in Deutschland, German Architecture Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 2011 – Participation in the exhibition Tatiana Bilbao, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
• 2011 – Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
• 2011 – Arquitectura Contemporánea Suiza, Cadiz, Spain
• 2011 – Le PAV s’expose, Geneva, Switzerland
• 2010 – Swiss Art Awards, Swiss Federal Office of Culture, Basel, Switzerland
• 2009 – Arch/Scapes, Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, Hong Kong
• 2009 – Arch/Scapes, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
• 2009 – New American Architecture, Chicago, USA
• 2009 – Europe 40 under 40, Athens, Greece and Florence, Italy
• 2008 – CAUE 92 (Conseil d’architecture, d’urbanisme et de l’environnement des Hauts-de-Seine), Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France
• 2008 – Arch/Scapes, Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel
• 2007 – Arch/Scapes, official Swiss contribution to the 7th International Architecture Biennale in São Paulo
• 2006 – China Contemporary, Nederlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 2005 – Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture, Shenzhen, China

Publications (selected)

• HHF—Unfinished, 176 pages, HHF, Basel, 2014, ISBN 978-3-033-04706-8
• Fundamentals, 14th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, 576 pages, Marsilio, Venezia, 2014, ISBN 978-88-317-1869-1
• Show & Tell, Collecting Architecture, 240 pages, Hatje Cantz, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7757-3801-9
• Das beste Einfamilienhaus, 106 pages, Archithema Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-9522994-6-3
• Architecture Now! 9, 480 pages, Taschen, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8365-3899-2
• Best Architects 14, 496 pages, Zinnobergruen, Düsseldorf, 2013, ISBN 978-3-9811174-8-6
• Lookout, Architecture with a View, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, 116 pages, CMV, 2013, ISBN 978-3-85616-633-5
• Where Architects Work, 256 pages, Birkhäuser, Bauwelt, 2013, ISBN 978-3-03821-412-0
• Häuser des Jahres, 273 pages, Callwey, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7667-2037-5
• Building Images, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, 197 pages, CMV, 2013, ISBN 978-3-85616-582-6
• White Cube Green Maze: New Art Landscapes, University of California Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-5202-7440-2
• HHF Architects, 335 pages, Archilife Publishers, Seoul, 2012, ISBN 978-89-964508-3-2
• Ruta del Peregrino: A Photographic Essay by Iwan Baan, 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, 2012, ISBN 978-3-0330-3590-4
• Deutsches Architekturjahrbuch / German Architectural Annual 2011|12. Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7913-5135-3
• Architecture Dialogues: Positions – Concepts – Visions, Niggli Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7212-0802-3
• Ai Weiwei: Art | Architecture, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8633-5041-3
• Old & New: Design Manual for Revitalizing Existing Buildings, Birkhäuser Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-0346-05250
• Shopping 1 Architecture Now!, Taschen Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8365-1738-6
• Houses 2 Architecture Now!, Taschen Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8365-1973-1
• AsBuilt, Princeton University Press, 2010
• Architecture Now! 7, Taschen Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-38365-1736-2
• Ai Weiwei: Architecture, daab Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-39425-9701-2
• Gallerie d’Arte, Motta Architecture, 2009, ISBN 978-8-8611-6113-9
• Best Architects 10, Zinnobergrün, 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811-1743-1
• Architecture in China, Taschen Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-5264-4
• Architecture Now! 5, Taschen Verlag, 09.07, ISBN 978-3-8228-1810-7
• Atmosphere: The Shape of Things to Come, Birkhäuser Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7643-8387-9
• Best Architects 09, Zinnobergrün, 2008, ISBN 978-3-9811-1742-4

External links

• HHF architects official website
• Labels 2 Berlin
• BauNetz – International architecture office ranking